7 reasons why freshman grades matter most

Mar. 3, 2014

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| USA Today College

Patrick O’Brien, author of “Making College Count,” entrepreneur and professor, squares off with career expert Dr. Susan Davis-Ali, founder of Leadhership1, author and Carlson School of Management faculty, on how to achieve success after college.

Do the university electives I’m forced to take freshman year really matter?

Pat’s Take: Listen closely as I feel strongly about the answer that I’m about to give. Regardless of the classes you take, I could make a very strong argument that freshman year matters more than any other year. These classes matter a lot. Let me tell you why.

• 1. Your freshman year accounts for 33 percent of your grades that truly matter (from a career standpoint).

Remember in high school when you figured out that colleges make admissions decisions based on three years of grades, not four? College works the same way. My hope is that you have a great job before that seventh report card comes out in the middle of your senior year. Many top seniors do.

• 2. It accounts for 40 percent of the grades that will be utilized in getting an internship.

That’s if you lock down an internship during the second semester of your junior year. If you apply during your first semester of your junior year, your freshman grades will account for roughly 50 percent of your cumulative GPA — regardless how much you cared or not about that biology,

• 3. Many top companies have early ID recruitment programs and begin identifying top prospects as early as your sophomore year.

Once you’re on a company’s candidate list, you’re on their radar. If you have a strong GPA in a major of interest to them, you’re in position A based on the A’s you earned your freshman year.

• 4. You can be a late admit into your university’s honors program.

At most schools, if you have a stellar freshman year, you can join the honors program as a first semester sophomore. Honors students often get preferred scheduling (so get the best schedules with the best professors) and are recruited heavily by top employers.

• 5. The best clubs and major-specific honoraries on campus are often selective in admission and will definitely look at your grades in the screening process.

These organizations will look great on your resume and often help you meet people who could ultimately hire you.

Pat’s Bottom Line: Regardless of the classes you take, regardless of your major — even if you think you’ll change it — make a commitment to achieve the best results you can your freshman year. You’ll be happy you did.

Susan’s Take: I have to admit, Pat, your advice gave me terrible flashback to the pressure I felt to do well freshman year. Unfortunately though, I agree with you. Freshman grades matter a lot.

Because you covered the statistics of why they matter, I’m going to cover the psychology of why they matter.

• 6. Good grades beget good grades.

In other words, when you get good grades as a freshman, you tend to keep getting good grades as a sophomore, junior and senior. Why? Because good grades build confidence, and confidence contributes to getting good grades. The same can be said of bad grades. They reduce your confidence, and a lack of confidence contributes to bad grades.

• 7. Professors give the benefit of the doubt to students who get good grades.

It might not be fair or even intentional, but professors favor students who do well in their class. If you get good grades at the start of a class, your professors think of you as a good student.

Susan’s bottom line:There is psychology supporting why freshman grades matter, so give it everything you’ve got freshman year. You’ll find that getting good grades are much easier in subsequent years if you start off getting them as a freshman. The long-term benefits on the back end are completely worth sacrificing a little fun on the front end.